Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen was born in 1098 in the Rhineland, the tenth child of a noble family. At eight, she was given to the Church, enclosed with an anchoress named Jutta in a cell attached to a Benedictine monastery. There she learned Latin, Scripture, and the psalms; there she also continued to experience the visions that had come to her since she was five, though she kept them secret, confiding only in Jutta and later in the monk Volmar, who would become her secretary. When Jutta died in 1136, Hildegard was elected to lead the growing community of nuns. But it was not until 1141, when she was forty-two, that the Living Light commanded her to write down what she had seen. The result was Scivias: 'Know the Ways', twenty-six visions with elaborate theological commentary, dictated over a decade to Volmar and illuminated with stunning images.

Hildegard is best known as a religious leader. German Benedictine abbess, mystic, composer, and polymath who wrote visionary theology, natural philosophy, and music.

Hildegard lived 1098-1179 CE, born in 1098 and died in 1179, during the medieval period.

Yes, free. Anyone can ask Hildegard, and a first question needs no account. Every answer is a Simulation in character, grounded in Hildegard’s real life, work and era. A good first question is: "What is viriditas and how do I cultivate it in my own life?"